New Castle no longer unbeaten, loses to Belle Vernon in semifinal rematch

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, February 6, 2021 | 9:23 PM

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Belle Vernon point guard Devin Whitlock is short in height, quick with the basketball and confident against a trapping defense.

That combination caused big trouble for New Castle, which was baffled by the 5-foot-9 junior for the second time in two years. Whitlock scored a game-high 21 points Saturday night as Belle Vernon tarnished New Castle’s perfect record with a 62-56 nonsection victory at North Allegheny.

This was a rematch from last year’s WPIAL semifinals.

Same teams. Same gym. Same results.

“It was big on our mind coming in here knowing that we had to give our all for this game and come out with a big win,” said Whitlock, who added seven rebounds and six assists.

New Castle (12-1) entered as the top-ranked team in WPIAL Class 5A, but Belle Vernon wasn’t intimidated. The Leopards had good memories from last February when these teams met in the playoffs at NA’s gym.

Belle Vernon won then by 10.

“I don’t have any secrets (for beating New Castle),” Belle Vernon coach Joe Salvino said. “We came out and played today. We did what we had to do, and we beat a very good team.”

Quinton Martin and Jake Haney added 11 points each for Belle Vernon (8-1), which entered ranked fifth in Class 4A. A year ago, New Castle and Belle Vernon played in 4A.

“We feel comfortable going up against any team,” Whitlock said, “but just knowing that they’ve got the same team (as last year) … we were confident we could do the same things.”

There were similarities to last February’s game beyond Whitlock’s play. Belle Vernon again used a 3-2 zone defense instead of the man-to-man scheme it typically deploys.

Against that zone, New Castle shot just 19% from beyond the 3-point line. The Red Hurricanes made five 3s in the first quarter but finished 9 for 47 from the arc overall.

Their struggles included an 0-for-10 second quarter and 1 for 10 in the third.

“It’s very similar to last year’s game,” New Castle coach Ralph Blundo said. “We didn’t shoot it well. Didn’t execute well. Just didn’t do a lot right.”

Overall, the Red Hurricanes shot just 25% from the field (20 of 77). Sheldon Cox led New Castle with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Michael Wells scored 18 points but they combined to shoot 13 for 40 from the field.

Cox had six of New Castle’s nine 3s.

Belle Vernon’s zone packed the middle and kept New Castle on the perimeter.

“I know they hit five 3s in the first quarter but we figured if we stay in that, maybe they get cold,” Salvino said.

New Castle led 18-13 after one quarter, but the 3s stopped falling. Belle Vernon took the lead with a 12-0 run that included the first 10 points of the second quarter. A jumper by Haney put the Leopards ahead 19-18 and Whitlock followed with two driving layups to lead by five with 3 minutes left in the first half.

Belle Vernon owned a 31-23 lead at half and led 47-40 after three. A three-point play by Whitlock with about 6 minutes left in the fourth gave the Leopards their largest lead at 55-40.

New Castle tried to rally with 3-pointers. Cox made four in the fourth quarter and Wells added another, cutting Belle Vernon’s lead to six points with 43 seconds left. But the Red Hurricanes missed two more 3s in the final seconds while trying to shrink the lead to one possession.

“We’ve shot it well all year,” Blundo said. “This was really the first game we shot it poorly.”

New Castle likes to trap, force turnovers and convert them into transition layups. Against a sure-handed point guard such as Whitlock, that’s not easy. New Castle ran into similar trouble in the state playoffs last season when it lost to Hickory and another talented 5-9 point guard.

Having a point guard such as Whitlock is “heaven sent,” Salvino said.

“Devin is just a special kind of kid,” he said. “He’s a kid that I don’t care who he’s playing against or what the competition is, he’s going to prove himself.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, New Castle